The applicant, a Nigerian national, was placed in immigration detention pending deportation. His detention lasted for around fourteen months. The applicant complained, inter alia, of the conditions of his detention. In relation to the proceedings before the ECtHR, he alleged that he had not had the opportunity to correspond with the court without interference by the prison authorities, and had been denied access to materials intended to substantiate his application.

According the ECtHR's Press release, the case concerned the conditions of the applicant’s immigration detention and its lawfulness. It also concerned complaints in relation to the proceedings before the ECtHR, mainly related to interference with correspondence and domestic legal-aid representation. 

The ECtHR took issue with many aspects of the applicant’s detention, including time spent detained in de facto isolation without exercise, and a subsequent period where he had been detained with people under Covid-19 quarantine unnecessarily. Overall it found the conditions inadequate. The ECtHR also found that the authorities had not been diligent enough in processing his deportation, and that the reasons for the applicant’s detention had ceased to be valid. It also found that the authorities had not guaranteed the applicant’s right to petition before the Court, as they had tampered with his correspondence and had not guaranteed to him adequate legal representation.